Legalization is defined as a process of authentication or screening of documents provided by the high commission, the consulate, the Embassy of the country in which the document considers only after getting attested by the notary public in Singapore.
It is also the official document that confirms the originality of the documents, i.e. it confirms that the seal, signature or stamps given on the document are genuine. Thus, the documents legalized, for instance, in Dubai, needs to legalized from the UAE embassy. In several other foreign countries like the United States of America, document legalization is also called consularisation.
Singapore translators are an ideal option for the legal translation service in Singapore.
Why is Legalization Important?
Getting the legalization of the document is essential for personal and business matters. The essential personal and business-related documents needed overseas must be attested or certified as an original or true copy.
To get this process done, the notary certificate is issued and is duly signed by the notary public that is authenticated by the Singapore Academy of Law and the Ministry of foreign affairs accompanied by the high commission of the receiving country, consular office and embassy.
To get your documents legalized it is a perfect to hire Certified translation services in Singapore.
Get Fast & Accurate official notarization for ICA, MOM, MFA.
What are the processes of legalization?
There are questions in several people‘s mind about the process of legalization. Legalization of documents in Singapore is referred to as a complete chain that contains several steps.
Everyone needs to follow everything step-by-step to get the right authentication of the document. Some of the steps of legalization are listed below:
Notarization
The notary public does the first process that is notarization, which is involved in the legalization of the documents by signing the document and providing the notarial certificate and fixing a notary seal at the same time.
The notary public document is to do with the signature of the particular person signing the document or certifying a document as a true or original copy. For the notarization of documents it is better to choose the reliable notary public translation service to get the best assistance.
Authentication:
The Singapore Academy of Law does this process of legalization of the document (SAL); however, SAL is the one that confirms that the notary public duly held by the board.
Verification:
The next legalization process is verification, through which the Singapore Academy of law duly authenticates the document, then the documents are presented before the Ministry of affairs to proceed with the documents for the legalization process.
Hire a Language translator for converting your legal & Other Documents.
Legalization:
The final step, legalization, is managed by the high commission, consulate, or embassy of the relevant country situated in Singapore. The primary focus of this process is to do the verification of the document again, to check if there is anything left. Every high commission consulate or embassy has its own criteria for the legalization process.
For example, some authorities only ask for the fee. On the other side, some ask to meet the requirements. Therefore if any person is proceeding to submit the legalization document, then it is advised first to check out the requirement of the relevant body to avoid any mistakes or errors.
The above given four-step verification is essential, especially for those who have to manage cross-border legal or business-related transactions. All these given process confirms that all the documents are properly signed, verified, stamped and sealed by the high commission of Singapore and the country’s relevant body where the documents need to be used.
Why do documents need to be legalized?
The seals or signature of the Singapore notary public on several documents from Singapore needs to be confirmed that it is legalized before those documents get accepted in some of the countries.
Suppose you are looking to get married or start an overseas business document like your birth certificate or corporate documents must be legalized. To get the legalization of the document and materials are issued and then duly signed by the public confirmed by the Singapore Academy of law Ministry of affairs and along with the receiving countries embassy.
Some countries only require the legalization of only one certificate, but other countries require the legalization of more than a certificate. So it totally depends on the guidelines of the relevant body.
There is no exact information about the pricing of the legalization, there are some commercial documents whose legalization pricing will be a bit higher when compared with some other documents. The legalization fees charged by the Singapore Academy of law is $25.75 for each document), fees charged by respective embassies (ranges from $10.00 to $700.00 each) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs charges ($10.00 each).
Types Of Documents That Can Be Authenticated Or Legalized
Some of the types of document that needs to be legalized or authenticated are as follows:
- Birth Certificate or Attestation of Birth
- Marriage Certificate
- Divorce Judgment and Certificates
- Single Status Certificate
- Police Character Certificate
- Academic Records (results, degree certificates and transcripts)
- Certificate of Incorporation & other incorporation documents
- Declaration of Assets
- Bank Statements
- Sponsorship Letters,
- Commercial Transaction Documents, among others.
It’s short, if your birth certificate, police clearance certificate, or any other certificate or a document that needs legalization first need to get notarized by the notary public. Then, it gets authenticated at the Singapore Academy of law before it finally gets legalized at the relevant embassy. However, the legalization process is almost the same for the educational certificates. Here also, it first needs to be attested by the Federal Ministry of education before the procedure of authentication and legalization.
At last, it is good to note that all the documents are appropriate to get legalization. Let’s understand with an example; several embassies do not legalize the document that harms the citizens of their own country and if any of the documents that appear to be with the strange stamp or seal which is not considered by the Ministry of foreign affairs, all those documents are rejected for legalization. So before you send you documents for legalization ensure that everything is fine.
No 1 Online Translation Services for Document & Legal Translations in Singapore.
Who authenticates the documents?
Singapore Academy of Law offers legalization services for the sign of the notary public introduced in Singapore as per rule 12 of the Singapore Academy of law rules.
The Singapore Academy of Law authenticates all the document or certificates that need to be notarization by the notary public in Singapore.
The following payment data need to be paid at the notary public office:
- Notarization fee to the notary public and authentication fee of $85.60 (incl of GST) Will be paid to the Singapore Academy of Law.
- After you clear the authentication payment, your notary public will provide you with a notarial certificate.
If you also require getting the legalization of the notarized documents, then you must inform your notary public so that you can get the legalization that might be done at the notary public’s office itself.
FAQs about Legalization of Documents
Do I need Legalization?
There are questions in several people minds about do I require legalization? This depends on the receiving country or agency. If they have made it mandatory to legalize the documents, you will require getting your documents legalized. If you are still in doubt, then it’s a better choice to legalize your document to avoid freight expenses and costly delays.
Where can I legalize my documents?
In order to legalize your document, you are required to be physically present at SAL. You can also appoint an agent to legalize your documents on your behalf. You don’t require any authorization letter.
The address of SAL is 1 Coleman Street, #08-06 The Adelphi, Singapore 179803. If you have any further queries related to the document’s legalization, you can call at their mainline at 6563324388, or you can mail them with your query at enquiry@sal.org.sg.
Their counter opening time is from 9 AM to 4:30 PM. The counter will remain closed on weekends and public holidays.
Get Fast & Accurate official notarization for ICA, MOM, MFA.
I am currently overseas and need to legalize a public document. Who can I contact if I encounter any issues with my legalized public document overseas?
If you are presently in overseas and looking to get legalization of your public document, then for the legalization of documents overseas, you are required to contact the nearest Singapore overseas mission.
If you are still facing any issues with your legalize public document, then in order to correct these issues, you can connect with the nearest Singapore overseas mission. On the other side, you can also call SAL at their main number, 6563324388, or you can email your queries at their official mail ID enquiries@sal.org.sg.
How much does it cost?
The legalization charges per documents are S$10.70 + GST per. Visa or MasterCard payments are accepted, which needs to be made at the online portal https://legalisation.sal.sg/.
If you are looking to request for legalization of certified true copy, then the photocopy charges are $1.00 for every Certified True Copy legalized. While requesting the photocopy, you are required to present your original document at the SAL counter.
At the counter staff will provide you the certified true copy.
How do I legalize a government document?
Documents like marriage certificate, birth certificate, etc., are only legalized if the Singapore government issues them.
Only those documents and legalized that are computer-generated documents and have been certified by the issuing dock Department
In order to certify true copies Singapore, you are required to submit the original documents at the SAL counter for the photocopies.
How do I legalize a non-government document?
You can only get the legalization of non-government documents or certificates if they are referred to the notary public (any law or firm providing notarial services) for the notarization and then forward the document to SAL for certification. For further information, you can refer to their official site.
The commercial document that can be legalized are bills of sales, certificates of origin, invoices, few fumigation certificates, Etc., only if they have been certified or referred by any of the four-chamber of commerce (International, Chinese, Indian or Malay) or by the Singapore Manufacturers Association.
I have a public document that MFA legalized. Can this still be used?
Obviously, yes, the entire document that the Ministry of foreign affairs legalises up to 19 January 2021 can be considered.
Will I still need to go to MFA after SAL legalisms my public document?
From 20 January 2021, the legalization work of outgoing public documents that is to be issued in Singapore and executed for use in several states with all the legalization requirements will be carried forward from MFA to SAL. This means that you won’t have to go to MFA anymore to legalize your public document.
Will public documents legalized by SAL be accepted overseas?
From 20 January 2021, SAL has become the sole authorization agency to legalize all Singapore public documents to be used in overseas. So if your document is SAL legalized, then it will be accepted overseas.
